If the judges are intrigued by a product, they jump in with questions. If it’s a dud, inventors receive a polite thanks and are ushered out.

Jim Miele spent years concocting what he says is the ultimate liquid cleaning solution. It’s all natural, has a "fresh minty scent" and cleans everything from your car to dishes and laundry, according to the 44-year-old from Marlboro.

"I’ve actually washed my dog with the product," said Miele, a soft-spoken, self-taught entrepreneur, vouching for his product called the Bio-Enviro All Natural Enzyme Cleaner. "It will work — a thousand percent," he said.

Miele was among the hopeful inventors from all over the U.S. — including a handful from New Jersey — who pitched what they hope will be the next big "as seen on TV" product at TeleBrands company headquarters in Fairfield last Thursday.

Heidi Wise of Wanaque knows a thumbs up from the judges could spell big success.

"I’m a little nervous, but I’m so enthusiastic about the ideas that it’s kind of cutting right through the nervousness," she said.

Twenty-five contestants waited for their turn in front of the panel of judges that included AJ Khubani, founder and CEO of TeleBrands, the company behind the "as seen on TV" infomercials. Contestants rattled off jingles and demonstrated prototypes inside the glass-enclosed conference room as a big clock counted down.

Khubani says he only needs 60 seconds to figure out whether a product is a hit or miss.

"It’s got to solve an everyday problem. It’s got to be visually exciting," he said. "That’s the thing about good-selling products: you can understand it right away."

When talking about top sellers, Khubani cites the Ped Egg — a foot callus remover that’s sold more than 40 million units.

"We’ve had inventors make seven figures, in the first year," he said.

Inventors come to New Jersey to pitch next big "as seen on TV" productAbout 30 inventors from around the US came to Fairfield to pitch what they hope is the next big "as seen on TV" product. Each inventor had only five minutes to convince the CEO of TeleBrands USA and a panel of judges they had come up with a must have item. (Video by Adya Beasley / The Star-Ledger)

Amy Estro said she was thrilled when judges gushed over her Leg Gloss product, a body spray that creates an instant sheen. One judge even kicked up her heels and sprayed her own leg. "My heart was pounding, but luckily I got the words out," said Estro, a graduate student from Queens, N.Y.

Siblings Tom and Terry Dailey, who flew out from their hometown of Wahoo, Neb., said they started inventing products when the economy went south and the construction company they work at downsized. To supplement their incomes, the 50-year-old fraternal twin brothers became business partners and started their own company, Twinovations. They created items like the Dailey Pan Stand, a metal stand that tilts a frying pan to help drain cooking grease. "In our case, two heads are better than one," Terry Dailey said.

Creative inspiration can come from unlikely places. Courtney Suendermann created Charm Scents — a piece of perfumed jewelry with a scent pad tucked inside a locket — after helping her 10-year-old daughter with a school project. When her daughter’s fourth grade class began clamoring for the necklace, she thought the product might be marketable.

"It’s just the right amount" of perfume, said Suendermann, 41, from San Francisco, Calif. "You’re not overwhelming a room with a scent."

Wise got one of her ideas from her job running her own pet-sitting business called Coddled Creatures.

Princess, her 2-year-old white Pomeranian, helped her show off a rolling pet carrier in front of the judges.

"I saw the need myself. Then other people who have seen it really marvel at it," she said.

Always looking for ways to improve things, Wise said she spent countless hours to work on her projects, skipping yoga classes and giving up free weekends.

"I set my mind to it and I’ve always been able to accomplish what I’ve set my mind to," she said.

Miele has already had some commercial success, though the judges turned him down. The cleaning product market is already saturated, they said.

An olive oil company in California cleans its production equipment with Bio-Enviro, he said. And like any persistent salesman, Miele offered to leave the judges sample bottles. He still dreams of seeing his product sold nationally on television. It would validate "all my blood, sweat and tears," Miele said. "It would give me financial security and it would bring something I created into full light."